Thin-Veneer Natural Stone
BIG SKY SPLENDOR
BIGFORK, Mont. – Calling the seven residential units developer Rob Wink built as part of his Whispering Rock gated community “cabins” is akin to calling Air Force One just another airplane.
In a project that also includes nine estate lots, all located on slightly more than 20 acres above the Eagle Bend Golf Course (with private cart access), the foremost cabin is #16. At 4,960 ft² it’s more than just an occasional getaway place.
Certainly the pioneers who first settled in this area where the Swan River flows into Flathead Lake west of Glacier National Park would be flabbergasted by the amenities – three full and two half baths, three master suites, study, family room with home theater, and wine room, among others – and the price (just a little less than $2 million).
What they probably could relate to is the construction style, which includes natural stone, hand-plastered walls and plenty of rustic-looking wood. Both the exterior and the interior make extensive use of stone native to the area, as do others of Wink’s projects.
“Our previous project had 24’ fireplaces with thin-veneer stone on them,” says Wink. “For Whispering Rock, we’ve used full thick stone on the outside; the fireplaces and the interior stone is all thin veneer.”
Wink estimates that fully 25 percent of the exterior is done in a full veneer which complements the landscaping, which also incorporates stone.
The hillside site gives the cabin two levels, with the lower – which Wink calls the guest level – recessed, although it has windows on three sides. The main, or entry, level is technically “upstairs.”
“That puts the main fireplace on the first level, but there’s also living space underneath it,” he says. “We really didn’t have the option to go down to concrete and block to support the main-level fireplace. However, with the thin-veneer stone, we just beefed up the floor joists and they could easily handle the weight.”
However, that fireplace isn’t the only use of veneer stone in the main level. It’s also utilized as a wall covering for the foyer and as the façade over the ventilation hood above the range in the all-granite kitchen.
On the lower level of the cabin, where weight isn’t as much of a concern, the same stone appears in a second fireplace, which also incorporates an 84” flat screen, the front of the bar and in the wine room.
Wink says the reason for such an extensive use of stone is easily explained: after all, he’s building in Montana.
“The architectural style I build in is reminiscent of the old Western Lodge,” he says. “There’s a lot of stone and iron in the architecture of these old lodges, and we’re going for that look. That’s why we do a fair amount of wall treatments mixing plaster and stone.”
Wink says he began working with Glacier Stone Supply in nearby Kalispell, Mont., as soon as the company began offering a thin veneer.
“Besides solving the weight issue, it just affords us the real masonry look and feel in situations where before we couldn’t offer it,” he says. “We either had to use no stone or a cultured stone, and we avoid using the man-made product because of what we’re trying to achieve with our designs.”
Even better, he adds, Glacier has allowed him to create custom blends in different stone sizes and colors.
“Those custom blends end up being proprietary to us,” Wink says. “We might have 40 percent of one stone, 30 percent of another, 25 percent of another, and five percent of another. We name that blend for a particular project, and they don’t sell it to anyone else.”
And, he says, the masonry contractor he’s used for the last 15 years has no problem in installing either size veneer.
The bottom line: Thin-veneer stone is a great fit with what he’s trying to achieve, both with its look and its weight.
“This came on the market at a time when it was very handy for us,” Wink concludes. “We never did projects with cultured stone, but there’s nothing like real rock to highlight the look we’re going for.”
This article first appeared in the August 2009 print edition of Stone Business. ©2009 Western Business Media Inc.